


let's pretend this song won't end

by konahau (naheka)



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 17:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15801027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naheka/pseuds/konahau
Summary: Tessa and Scott do a bit of babysitting, with varying levels of success.





	let's pretend this song won't end

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta-ed

Tessa feels guilty as soon as she sends the text. She immediately fires off a _nevermind_.

Scott calls about a second and a half later, and she holds the phone at a decent distance from her ear in anticipation. “ _TESSA WHAT THE HELL_ ,” Scott is bellowing as soon as she connects the call. “YOU CAN’T JUST--”

“Scott,” Tessa says sharply, and he quiets. “Sorry,” she admits, when it’s safe to bring the phone flush against her ear. “I panicked.”

“Well,” he says, and he’s still a little vocally unhinged but he’s screeching a lot less. “It must be bad for you to send a fake text about a blood clot. You’re okay, right?”

Tessa looks down at the toddler smashing a plastic block into her hardwood floor with single-minded determination. “It’s up for debate.”

++

Scott is over in less than an hour. “I brought snacks,” he says, holding up a plastic bag as he shuffles into her house.

Tessa frowns. “You mean the very specific list of supplies I sent you?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Snacks.” Scott stretches out belly first onto the carpet, propping his chin in his palms and wiggling his eyebrows at the baby. “Tell me Fedor isn’t the father.”

“Hilarious,” Tessa snaps. She stalks over to the bag and starts to rummage through the contents. “My newest second cousin, Jesse, who I foolishly agreed to watch for the day.”

“Oogly boogly,” Scott says, which is frankly so ridiculous Tessa tunes him out, sorting the items into ‘useful’ and ‘Scott’s junk’. “Tess,” Scott calls over, while she’s examining a package of raisins and trying to decide if it’s a choking hazard. She errs on the side of caution, tossing them aside on the counter in favour of the baby carrots. “Tessa! Look!”

“Scott--” Tessa starts with a sigh, but it’s cut off at the sight of Scott’s entire hand covering Jesse’s face. “Oh my god!”

“Like a basketball!”

Tessa throws a carrot at him. “Babies are not basketballs!”

Scott picks up the carrot off the rug and pops it into his mouth, tickling Jesse’s belly with his free hand. “It’s not like I was squeezing, unclench.”

Tessa presses a hand to her temple. “We are so far behind schedule.”

“Babies don’t have schedules, T. That’s what makes their lives so great.” Scott blows a raspberry against Jesse’s babyfat cheek, making her squeal with delight.

Tessa ignores him, which is easy; she’s had lots of practice. Figuring out what exactly “Lunch 12:15” is supposed to entail, however, is much harder. She opens her fridge and peers inside. “What do little kids eat? Kale?”

“Her parents didn’t send her over with food?”

Tessa eyes the handle of a pan, sticking out from the trashcan. “No, they… forgot.” She snags an air freshener from the counter and spritzes it a few times, waving a hand around to lessen the lingering scent of burnt hotdogs. “Is that a no on the kale?”

“I’d have to call child services,” Scott says, hopping to his feet and giving Jesse back her block. He joins Tessa in the kitchen. “Here, just do this.” He rips the cap off a can of whipped cream from the counter and sprays it directly into his mouth. “Dairy is calcium,” he says, with his mouthful.

Tessa takes the can out of his hand. “That was not on the list. Can you just take Jesse outside and walk her around for a few minutes while I figure out a sandwich?”

Scott shrugs. He thumbs a smear of whipped cream from the corner of his mouth and wipes it on her nose. “Sure, boss.”

 

“Okay,” Tessa calls, a little while later, a plate balanced in one hand while she opens the backdoor with the other. “Lunch is--what the _fuck_ Scott??”

“Little ears!” Scott objects. Then he processes that she’s just sworn at him, in front of a child. He affects a hangdog expression. “It was an accident?”

Tessa boggles at him. Jesse, from midchest down, is coated in mud, except for one socked foot, which is only clean by the virtue the shoe having fallen off. Scott is so muddy he’s dripping. “How?” she manages.

“She got away from me?” Scott tries.

Tessa narrows her eyes. “She’s one.”

“I was spinning her through the air and I slipped and fell in a mud puddle,” Scott confesses.

Tessa sighs heavily. She sets the plate inside on a table by the door and waves at him to come closer, retrieving the diaper bag from by the couch before returning. “Here, we’ll change her on the porch.”

15 minutes, four towels, and a fresh new headache later, she’s got a clean child sitting on the floor chewing on a pair of shoelaces, and she’s too mentally exhausted to care about the germs. “Here,” she says, carefully exchanging the laces for a small square of peanut butter sandwich. “Eat up, sweetheart. Ah--” She holds up a finger as Scott tries to open the screen door. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m hungry,” he protests. “C’mon, I’ll cleanup after.”

Tessa snorts. 

“You need me,” he tries. He jabs his finger awkwardly at the door handle. “This isn’t like geometry in high school. I know way more kid stuff than you do, miss smartypants.”

“You dropped a child in a puddle.”

“I didn’t drop her,” Scott insists. “If anything, it was a dunking.” His face brightens. “Hey! Did you know you’re not supposed to give carrots to little kids without cutting them up? One of many nuggets of wisdom I have to offer.”

She opens the door, sticks a carrot in his mouth, and shuts it again. “There’s a hose around the side; I’ll get you a towel.”

++

 

“I think she might actually be the devil,” Scott says, pacing the living room with a bounce in every step and a screaming toddler in his arms. “It’s drilling into my brain.”

“I’ll take her in two minutes,” Tessa says, with the grimness of marching into battle. “Her parents will be here in two hours. We just have to get through it.”

Scott tries to hum a lullaby, gives up after an impressive screech of misery from miniature lungs. “Oh god, she just won’t stop. Look up another video.”

“I’ve watched the videos,” Tessa says in a flat voice. 

“How about--” Scott stops talking as soon as Jesse goes silent. He freezes, knees slightly bent, hair completely disheveled. “Is she,” he whispers.

“Shh. Don’t move.”

Scott’s eyes narrow. “Easy for you to say. I drop everything to come over here and I end up the one in an uncomfortable position. In my underwear.”

“You’re contractually obligated to help me,” Tessa says smugly. “Just think of it as a squat.”

++

“She’s cute, though,” Scott says, sitting on the floor in his boxers and Tessa’s largest terrycloth towel wrapped around him. 

Jesse, on the couch, snores audibly.

Tessa has never been more tired in her entire life, and her entire life has revolved around prolonged physical activity. She slumps against Scott’s side. “I’m never having children.”

“Nah,” Scott says. “It’ll feel different when they’re ours. Like, just as tiring, but more totally worth it.”

 _OURS_ Tessa’s brain shrieks, at max volume and on a repeating loop.

Scott stiffens slightly against her. “I mean, uh. You know. My kids, and---and also your kids. Kids who are ours because mine and also yours…” he coughs. “You know, I think I might have hypothermia.”

“It’s not that cold,” Tessa says, rolling her eyes. “And I told you Ryan’s bathrobe is--”

“No offense,” Scott says, “but I’d honestly rather die.”

Tessa leans her head on Scott’s bare shoulder. He wraps the towel around her too, tucking her further into his side. They watch the baby sleep. 

“She is cute,” Tessa admits.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think and I'm on tumblr @ konahou


End file.
